Mason jar humidifier and humidifier lid

ABSTRACT

A mason jar humidifier combines a glass jar with threads for connecting to a threaded lid connection. A humidifier lid is sized to cover an opening of the glass jar. The humidifier lid is held in position on the glass jar by the threaded lid connection. The humidifier lid has a top portion with a top surface and a top wall. The top wall extends downwards from the top surface. A bottom portion has a bottom surface and a bottom wall. The bottom wall extends upwards from the bottom surface. The bottom wall is sized such that it corresponds to the top wall. The bottom surface has at least one aperture through which air may pass and a connecting mechanism for connecting the top wall and the bottom wall.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application relates generally to a mason jar humidifier and more specifically to a lid designed for use with a mason jar humidifier.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the invention. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Controlling the humidity of tobacco, herbal medicines and food stuffs can drastically improve their longevity. For tobacco and herbal medicines, humidors are a common way of storage. A good quality humidor can be quite expensive and many people are unable to find or purchase one for use. It would be beneficial to have a relatively inexpensive option for controlling the humidity of stored items.

BRIEF SUMMARY

There is provided a humidifier lid that has a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion has a top surface and a top wall. The top wall extends downwards from the top surface. The bottom portion has a bottom surface and a bottom wall. The bottom wall extends upwards from the bottom surface. The bottom wall is sized such that it corresponds to the top wall. The bottom surface has at least one aperture through which air may pass. A connecting mechanism is provided for connecting the top wall and the bottom wall.

In one embodiment, the top wall and the bottom wall have a substantially circular shape.

In one embodiment, the connecting mechanism is threads. The top wall may have external or internal threads at a bottom end of the top wall while the bottom wall has internal or external threads, respectively at a top end of the bottom wall to allow engagement of the threads.

In another embodiment, the connecting mechanism is a tongue and groove system. Friction between the top wall and the bottom wall may also be used as a connecting mechanism.

In one embodiment, the top surface extends beyond the top wall to form a lip. The lip provides a hand hold and may also rest on the top of the surface to be closed to provide a better seal.

There is also provided a mason jar humidifier that includes a glass jar and a humidifier lid. The glass jar has threads for connecting to a threaded lid connection. A humidifier lid is sized to cover an opening of the glass jar. The humidifier lid is held in position on the glass jar by the threaded lid connection. The humidifier lid has a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion has a top surface and a top wall that extends downwards from the top surface. The bottom portion has a bottom surface and a bottom wall that extends upwards from the bottom surface. The bottom wall is sized such that it corresponds to the top wall. The bottom surface has at least one aperture through which air may pass. A connecting mechanism is provided for connecting the top wall and the bottom wall.

In one embodiment, a humidity control is inserted into the bottom portion of the humidifier lid. The humidity control may be sponge, silica gel pack or any other humidity device known to a person skilled in the art that can fit within bottom portion of the humidifier lid.

In one embodiment, the top wall and the bottom wall have a substantially circular shape.

In one embodiment, the connecting mechanism is threads. The top wall may have external or internal threads at a bottom end of the top wall while the bottom wall has internal or external threads, respectively at a top end of the bottom wall to allow engagement of the threads.

In another embodiment, the connecting mechanism is a tongue and groove system. Friction between the top wall and the bottom wall may also be used as a connecting mechanism.

In one embodiment, the top surface extends beyond the top wall to form a lip. The lip provides a hand hold and may also rest on the top of the surface to be closed to provide a better seal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which references are made to the following drawings, in which numerical references denote like parts. The drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiments shown.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mason jar humidifier.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mason jar humidifier shown in FIG. 1 with the threaded lid connection removed.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of a humidifier lid.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the humidifier lid shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of bottom portion of the humidifier lid shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the top portion of the humidifier lid shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A mason jar humidifier, generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a mason jar humidifier 10 is made up of a glass jar 12 and a humidifier lid 14. Glass jar 12 may be any size suitable for use for the storage of a product in which the control of humidity is important. The mason jar is a common type of jar and should be well known to a person skilled in the art. Referring to FIG. 2, glass jar 12 has a hollow body 16 and an upper neck 18 with opening through which a product to be stored may be placed in or removed from glass jar 12. Upper neck 18 has external threads 22 that correspond to internal threads on a threaded lid connection 26, shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, threaded lid connection 26 has a generally cylindrical shape with side walls 28 and top lip 30.

Referring to FIG. 4, humidifier lid 14 has a top portion 32 and a bottom portion 34. Referring to FIG. 6, top portion 32 has a top surface 36 with a top wall 38 that extends downwards from top surface 36. In the embodiment shown, top surface 36 extends beyond top wall 38 to form a lip 39. Referring to FIG. 1, lip 39 rests on upper neck 18 of glass jar 12 to prevent humidifier lid 14 from falling into glass jar 12. Referring to FIG. 3, bottom portion 34 has a bottom surface 40 and a bottom wall 42 that extends upwards from bottom surface 40. Referring to FIG. 5, bottom surface 40 has at least one aperture 44 through which air may pass. In the embodiment shown, a plurality of apertures are used. It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that the size, shape and number of apertures may change. Bottom wall 42 and top wall 38 are sized such that they correspond to each other. In the embodiments shown, top wall 38 and bottom wall 42 are substantially circular in shape, with their shape corresponding to the shape of opening of glass jar 12. It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that different shapes may be used as long as top wall 38 and bottom wall 42 share the same shape. Referring to FIG. 1, a connecting mechanism 46 allows for top wall 38 and bottom wall 42 to be connected. In the embodiment shown, connecting mechanism 46 is a threaded connection in which top wall 38 has external threads 48 that correspond with internal threads 50 on bottom wall 42. It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that other types of connecting mechanism 46 may be used. This includes, but is not limited to, a friction fit between top wall 38 and bottom wall 42 and tongue and groove systems. Referring to FIG. 2, when top wall 38 and bottom wall 42 are connected, an interior chamber 52 is created into which a humidity control 54 may be placed. Humidity control 54 may be a sponge, a silica gel insert or other available humidity control packets such as those being sold under the name Boveda™. When in use, humidifier lid 14 is placed on upper neck 18 of glass jar 12 and threaded lid connection 26 is secured on to glass jar 12. Humidifier lid 14 replaces the conventional lid on mason jars.

Any use herein of any terms describing an interaction between elements is not meant to limit the interaction to direct interaction between the subject elements, and may also include indirect interaction between the elements such as through secondary or intermediary structure unless specifically stated otherwise.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent that changes may be made to the illustrative embodiments, while falling within the scope of the invention. As such, the scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples and drawings described above, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A humidifier lid, comprising: a top portion having a top surface and a top wall, the top wall extending downwards from the top surface; a bottom portion having a bottom surface and a bottom wall, the bottom wall extending upwards from the bottom surface, the bottom wall being sized such that it corresponds to the top wall, the bottom surface having at least one aperture through which air may pass; a connecting mechanism for connecting the top wall and the bottom wall.
 2. The humidifier lid of claim 1 wherein the top wall and the bottom wall have a substantially circular shape.
 3. The humidifier lid of claim 1 wherein the connecting mechanism is threads.
 4. The humidifier lid of claim 1 wherein the connecting mechanism is a tongue and groove system.
 5. The humidifier lid of claim 1 wherein the connecting mechanism is friction.
 6. The humidifier lid of claim 1 wherein the top surface extends beyond the top wall to form a lip.
 7. A mason jar humidifier, comprising in combination: a glass jar having threads for connection to a threaded lid connection; a humidifier lid having a top portion having a top surface and a top wall, the top wall extending downwards from the top surface, a bottom portion having a bottom surface and a bottom wall, the bottom wall extending upwards from the bottom surface, the bottom wall being sized such that it corresponds to the top wall, the bottom surface having at least one aperture through which air may pass, and a connecting mechanism for connecting the top wall and the bottom wall; the humidifier lid being sized to cover an opening of the glass jar, the humidifier lid being held in position by the threaded lid connection.
 8. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein a humidity control is inserted into the bottom portion of the humidifier lid.
 9. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein the top wall and the bottom wall have a substantially circular shape.
 10. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein the connecting mechanism is threads.
 11. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein the connecting mechanism is a tongue and groove system.
 12. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein the connecting mechanism is friction.
 13. The mason jar humidifier of claim 7 wherein the top surface extends beyond the top wall to form a lip.
 14. The mason jar humidifier of claim 8 wherein the humidity control is a sponge.
 15. The mason jar humidifier of claim 8 wherein the humidity control is a silica gel pack. 